Staff Reporter :
Common people are on huge sufferings due to uncontrolled price hiking of daily essentials including edible oil.
Meanwhile, the government started selling several essential items through Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to help the lower income group of people, but most of the consumers in queues of the TCB’s truck returned empty handed due to short of supplies.
Mostly, the edible oil found shortfall in those TCB truck sale queues, sources said.
In these circumstances, the TCB plans to import 33 million (3.30 crore) litres of soybean oil from abroad.
Officials from TCB said that it will procure the item from two companies through direct purchase method (DPM) without any tender procedures.
One of the companies is from the United Arab Emirates and another from Canada. The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) approved a proposal placed by the Commerce Ministry in this regard in a meeting on Wednesday.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the virtual meeting while members of the committee joined it.
The committee also approved two separate proposals on fertiliser import.
It showed that the price of urea fertiliser has substantially decreased in the world market.
The TCB will procure 22 million (2.20 crore) litres of soybean oil from Ferrani Polaska Spzoo Food Stuff Trading LLC, UAE. Shan Trading Ltd, Dhaka, is its local agent. While the rest of 11 million (1.10 crore) litres of the oil to be purchased from Canada INC, Canada.
It’s local agent is Haque Group, Dhaka.
Sources said that the entire import will cost Tk 448.82 crore, with each litre costing $1.44. It will equivalent to Tk 136 per litter valuing each dollar Tk 94.45.
The TCB will sell the edible oil in bottles, each to contain two litres of oil.
However, the two proposals will require final approval from the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase to start the import.
